Sunday, February 22, 2009

Night Putting with Laci Underall - The Cindy Morgan Interview

The title sounds like a cryptic line from "Wall Street" (think "Blue Horseshoe loves Anacot Steel) - but it's true... Cindy Morgan, the real Laci Underall of Caddyshack fame has recently been bitten by the Golf bug. For more insights into "Laci", what she has been up to, and her fond memories of making Caddyshack, keep reading, because Cindy was kind enough to sit down with us this week for a chat.

Believe me fellas, you will want to hear what she has to say-you may still have a shot...

THE INTERVIEW

Judge Smails: Welcome (back) to Bushwood, Laci - it's been a long time since we have seen you around here.

Cindy: Uh, my name is Cindy Morgan - Laci Underall was a CHARACTER that I played in the movie - by the way, why are your eyes glazed over ?

Judge Smails / Me: (coming to my senses) -uh, oh, of course....sorry. Cindy, thanks for taking time to talk to us here at Bushwood CC. Let's get started - sorry for that momentary lapse....

How did you get the role of Laci Underall ? Well, I am a Chicago girl, and prior to working in film I was an on-air radio personality at a Chicagoland station. After a while, I decided to try acting, so I moved to Los Angeles, hired an agent, and started looking for work. Believe it or not, I scored the Caddyshack role within my first 8 months in the business.

Who else was a candidate for the role ? As I understand it, there was one other strong candidate who had actually been promised the role - Sarah Holcomb (girlfriend of Brian Doyle Murray, and ultimately Danny Noonan's on-screen love interest Maggie). I did not find out about that until the last audition, and by then I had completely decided that I had to take an "all or nothing " approach to getting the role.

What is one thing that you have in common with Laci ? Hmmmm, that's a good one. Well, I went to Catholic School for 12 years, so I cannot say that I had a lot of "real life" experiences that would have rivaled Laci's. However, we all have a "fantasy side", and that's what I drew on to create Laci. Laci likes to have fun with people, and always keep them wondering what she will do next - she enjoys life to it's fullest. I am fortunate that people found me believable portraying that in the role.

Your character Laci personified "SEXY" for an entire generation of (us) men - how did that effect your personal life going forward ? Quite a lot,actually. I did not work for over a year after Caddyshack - and there is an interesting story behind that. When I took the role, I was also working as the "Irish Spring" girl in their commercials - so my image was very important. I was aware that the script has a nude scene in it - which I was ok with, because I knew that still photos could not be captured from the film(at that time), and that was all I was concerned about. Imagine my surprise when I heard that a Playboy photographer was going to be on set when we were filming the scene. The short version is that I put my foot down, and said that only the camera guy, the director, and the two people in the scene were going to be on set - or I would walk. I eventually won the argument - but it cost me. Any mention of "Laci" or Cindy Morgan was removed from the promotional materials, and I was sort of "black balled" in the business for a while, but I still know that I did the right thing.

When you are out in public, do people ever call you "Laci", or shout out old Caddyshack lines ? At the market - no, but at public appearances, people often call me "Laci". The Caddyshack references don't start until we get to the "back 9" in Charity events and the guys playing have had a couple (dozen) beers... it gets a little rowdy then !

Is Chevy Chase really that funny ? Absolutely - he is hilarious. I was very lucky to have most of my scenes with Chevy - he is a really smart guy and his wit as sharp on and off camera.

Do you play golf ? I JUST started 2 years ago. My putting and chipping are good, and I am working on hitting my tee shots better now...but I really enjoy playing.

Tell us something about filming Caddyshack that will surprise us : Caddyshack was filmed shortly after "Animal House" was released, and you probably noticed that there were a few folks in Caddyshack who were also in Animal House (trivia item - Dean Wormer's promiscuous daughter was none other than Sara Holcomb - aka Maggie, the Irish lass of Danny's affection). Filming Caddyshack was a bit like Animal House on the golf course - no one had ANY idea that the movie would be a hit, but we were all having a REALLY good time.

Men all over the world want to know what kind of guy snagged Laci Underall - tell us about him: I am still looking for Mr. Perfect - I've had a number of special people in my life - but have not found the right guy yet. (ed. note - she is still HOT !)

We all know that much of the script was improvised - tell us the funniest moment that you remember: Watching Ted Knight and Rodney Dangerfield work together was unbelievably funny. It was Rodney's first movie, and he was sweating every scene - nervous as could be. Ted was really getting into the whole "Judge Smails" thing (ed. note - I know, so was I). Probably the funniest thing was watching how Rodney (who was only originally supposed to have a cameo role) eventually stole the whole show, while Ted sort of smoldered - I think some of the frustration you saw the Judge express toward Al/Rodney was real !

You spent much of the movie in a very memorable outfit - a rather formfitting "tennis outfit" that made many a teenage boy feel....well, never mind, tell us about the outfit. SLOWLY : Ha Ha - you got a little nervous there yourself,Cash. Remember this was 1979, and women all over America were "braless and proud" - so my wardrobe was nothing that was uncommon at the time, it just seems to have "stuck" in the memory of a lot of people (ed. note - no shizz - more like BRANDED )

Two activities that Laci enjoyed - skinny skiing and attending bull fights on acid - which one is your favorite ? Ha - well, in real life I've done neither - but I am SURE that Laci was quite experienced at both of them...

Are you still a blonde ? Absolutely....

Who was your favorite cast member ? I really enjoyed working with a lot of them, but if I had to pick one, it would be Bill Murray. Watching him become "Carl" was simply hilarious.

Swimming pool scene - you wore a one- piece. Why wasn't was a bikini ever considered ? If you really think about Laci, she sort of took the "classic Country Club look" and then pushed the flirty side at every turn. The one- piece fit her personality - a bikini would have been too "obvious" for Laci. Plus, it's what the wardrobe folks wanted to use...(ed. note DAMN them!)

Cindy - Thanks for taking time to speak with us today. It has been a huge pleasure spending time with you. Check out more on Cindy here.

Bushwood Membership Drive

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